brittle star

or brittle·star

noun

1. any echinoderm of the class Ophiuroidea, having the body composed of a central, rounded disk from which radiate long, slender, fragile arms.

brittle-star

noun

1. any echinoderm of the class Ophiuroidea , occurring on the sea bottom and having five long slender arms radiating from a small central disc See also basket-star

Word History and Origins

Origin of brittle star¹

First recorded in 1835–45

Example Sentences

In a paper published Wednesday in The Proceedings of the Royal Society B, a team of scientists describe the fossil of a brittle star that was petrified while regenerating three of its six limbs.

From New York Times

Small prey present in their environment at all temperatures included brittle stars, small crustaceans, worms, and molluscs.

From Science Daily

In the case of brittle stars, that seems to be enough to learn by association, Notar, Johnsen and former Duke undergraduate Madeline Go report in the journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.

From Science Daily

The corals were also crawling with critters, including squat lobsters, feathery brittle stars, and dense patches of anemones and sponges.

From Scientific American

Millions of years ago, animals in this phylum—including starfish, brittle stars, sea cucumbers and sea urchins—were all bilateral.

From Scientific American